SuburbanOneSports.com recognizes a male and female featured athlete each week. The awards, sponsored by Univest, are given to seniors of good character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete (Week of March 7, 2012)
Liz McKenna has excelled for the Wissahickon swim team since the arrived on the scene as a freshman. The Trojan senior was MVP of her squad as both a sophomore and junior and is a two-time league champion in the 100 backstroke – her stroke of choice. She broke the Upper Dublin pool record at last year’s league meet. Last year, McKenna finished fifth in districts in the 100 back and earned a spot in states. This year the senior captain once again medaled in districts, finishing seventh and punching her ticket to states. “She’s awesome,” coach Laurie Hug said. “She’s a really positive girl, and everybody loves her. She’s very outgoing and cheers for everybody. She leads by example, and she works as hard as anybody or harder.”
Although she is an elite swimmer, McKenna also excelled on the hockey field for a Trojan squad that dominated play in the American Conference and last year – when McKenna was a junior - captured the district title. A four-year varsity player, McKenna was a fixture in the Trojans’ defensive backfield. She also was a captain of this year’s league championship squad that earned a spot in the state tournament. “She has a very natural modesty, and that modesty really came through as a player because she wasn’t selfish,” assistant coach Shelly Meier said. “She wasn’t someone who was going to hold only the ball if she shouldn’t. She was really integral in trying to get our (transition) down. We needed to be able to trust her, which we did. She’s a very strong player. She’s on her toes, and she’s that brick wall for you.”
Despite her involvement with hockey – which meant that McKenna did not swim in the fall, she was still one of the area’s top swimmers, earning first team all-league status in the 100 back the past three years after earning second team honors as a freshman. This year, she finished third in the 100 free in leagues. McKenna, who has been involved with US Swimming the past two years, has turned her swimming talents into a scholarship to Loyola University in Maryland. An honors student, McKenna is undecided on a major.
To read McKenna’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/liz-mckenna
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of March 7, 2012)
Brian Schwabenland is the consummate teammate. The Upper Dublin senior didn’t qualify for the recent District One swimming championships, but that didn’t prevent him from showing up and cheering his teammates on to a district crown. “I went both days for the boys and girls’ meets,” Schwabenland said. “Over my high school career, the entire Upper Dublin boys and girls swim team is my family. I’m there to support them, I’m there to help them if they need it.” Schwabenland has dealt with bad luck and bad timing the last two years – he entered this season’s league championships suffering from a sinus infection and virus, and last season he was dealing with arthritis that occurred as a result of an allergic reaction to antibiotics. But Schwabenland possesses a remarkable ability to accept and learn from both the positives and negatives. “Brian is an all-around great kid” coach Lisa Fantini said. “He’s a genuinely nice kid, the kind you really root for to be successful. He always works really hard at practice. He’s a good role model for the young kids on the team. He wants to be a leader, he knows he needs to be a role model, a mentor and he helps any way he can, whether it’s organizational or even just going to get equipment.”
For Schwabenland, it was a simple matter of doing whatever was asked or needed of him in order to help the team succeed, and he understood and embraced his role on the team. “My philosophy is that every little bit counts, no matter if you’re the best swimmer on the team or not,” he said. “It’s definitely been a privilege to be on this team. It’s so competitive, you have to work to stay on the team.”
Schwabenland is an active member of the Environmental Education Club. He served as Activities Chairman last year and is club secretary this year. This fall, he will head to West Chester University where he will major in physical therapy with future plans to return to the community to apply what he will learn.
To view Schwabenland’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/brian-schwabenland
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